One year ago, Sharks defenseman Jason Demers saw his first playoff action as an injury replacement.

Thursday night, he had a solid grip on one of the six slots on the San Jose blue line as the Sharks opened their first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Kings.

Demers’ ability to move the puck and contribute to the San Jose offense hasn’t been in question since he first arrived in the NHL in October 2009. And his play this season has answered questions that have been raised about his decision-making and defensive zone play.

“I think I’m a little less risky,” said Demers, who had one goal and four assists in 15 playoff games a year ago. “And a better defenseman in my own zone.”

The questions did not disappear all at once, and there were times this season when pinching at the wrong time seemed to reinforce the notion that Demers might need more time in Worcester. But coach Todd McLellan showed patience, making him a healthy scratch only once and letting him develop at the NHL level.

“We count on him more. He’s much better defensively now than he was last time,” McLellan said. “The risk-reward in his game is a little more in his favor than it was last year.”

Demers had been part of San Jose’s third defense pairing but now has moved up a level on the depth chart. The fact that he’s now often on the ice against the opposition’s first or second lines helped force him to take a more conservative approach.

“This year I’m playing more against the top lines, so I sort of have got to pick my spots,” he said.

Kings defenseman Alec Martinez is a Michigan native who played most of his youth hockey there, but for two years he and his family lived in the East Bay and Martinez skated with both the Santa Clara Blackhawks and Junior Sharks.

“My dad worked for General Motors, had a job transfer and we were sent out here for a couple years,” said Martinez, who said he was in sixth grade when his family moved to Danville. “We ended up going back once he was done.”

The 23-year-old Martinez’s memory was fuzzy as far as getting to games at HP Pavilion before he reached the NHL as a player.

“I guess maybe one or two here and there,” he said, “but I was always a Wings fan growing up.”

Sharks left wing Ben Eager shaved the already-short hair off his head for the playoffs, but he said it had nothing to do with creating a fierce, more combative look.

“It’s a bit cooler,” he explained. “These rinks get warm.”

Eager took on the enforcer’s role late in the first period when teammate Ian White was driven hard into the boards by Kings forward Jarrett Stoll and no penalty was called. On the next faceoff, Eager challenged Los Angeles penalty-leader Kyle Clifford, with Eager getting in the early punches and Clifford landing several at the end.